Is homosexuality/being gay prohibited by the Ten Commandments?

Homosexuality Is Not a Sin

Homosexuality Is a Sin

Most Christians understand that, although the Mosaic law was promulgated by God, they need to follow the law of Christ instead of the laws of the Old Testament. Yet, the laws of Christ and of the Old Testament often intertwine, especially in regards to the Ten Commandments. For example, the Ten Commandments are either cited by Jesus Christ or by Paul as relevant for Christians.

Notice that there is no commandment within the Ten Commandments specifically stating that homosexuality is a sin. Some people may point out that bestiality and pedophilia are also not specifically listed as sins in the Ten Commandments; however, they will argue that Christians know that they are morally wrong because a person or animal is being taken advantage of sexually and Christians should not partake in such acts. One must understand that both of those acts involve sexual acts between one party who initiates the act and another party who does not have the mental capacity or ability to consent to the act, which is rape. Although rape is also not specifically stated as a sin in the Ten Commandments, it is easily deduced from the New Testament that rape is a sin as it goes against Jesus' second greatest commandment "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt. 22:39 ESV), and someone who rapes another person is sexually taking advantage of that person. Furthermore, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and the story of Gibeah show that God looks very unfavorably upon anyone who commits rape or attempts to commit rape.

Some Christians interpret the seventh commandment, "You shall not commit adultery" in Exod 20:14 ESV as instructing Christians and Jews to not commit fornication outside of marriage. They think that when the seventh commandment was promulgated, God must have meant it to apply to all sexual activity outside of marriage and not just adultery, and they reason that since homosexuals are not allowed to marry within churches, then they are committing fornication, which is against the seventh commandment.

Fornication is defined in the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (2012) as "consensual sexual intercourse between two persons not married to each other - compare adultery."1 It actually asks the reader to compare adultery with fornication. As you can see from the above verses, the Bible equates fornication with adultery, which means that the sin of fornication is also condemned by Exod. 20:14"You shall not commit adultery" Exod. 20:14 ESV.. Homosexuality is committed between two people of the same sex outside of marriage, which means that both partners are fornicators. Thus, since the Bible equates fornication with adultery, fornication is condemned in the seventh commandment along with adultery, and homosexuality is fornication, the seventh commandment must also condemn homosexuality.